by Jan Jarab

Daily newspapers surveyed (in alphabetical order): Cesky denik, Lidova demokracie, Lidove noviny, Mlada fronta Dnes, Prace, Rude pravo, Svobodne slovo, Telegraf.

CESKY DENIK (right-wing). Headline news: "If (Slovak Premier) Meciar does not react to the letter, (Czech Interior Minister) Ruml will close the border on July 1". The spokesman for the Czech Ministry of Interior said that the Czech side still hopes for an agreement with the Slovaks; however, there has been so far no official reaction to the letter written by Premier Klaus to Meciar on Monday (the letter asked for an immediate beginning of negotiations about the establishment of a regular border between the two republics).

Another article on page 1 concentrates on the reasons why Mr.Ruml pushes so hard for the creation of a regular, well-guarded border. Germany intends to return to the CR persons who have illegally crossed the Czech-German border (most of them being from the Balkan countries or the former USSR). Germany - says the spokesman for the Czech Interior Ministry - insists on its right to deport back to the CR refugees up to 6 months after their arrest in Germany, while the Czech Government would agree with the limit being 6 months from the date of the illegal crossing of the border. Under the German condition, say the Czechs, a refugee could be deported to the CR many years after the actual crossing of the border.

CESKY DENIK also gives almost a full page to "Drop-in", a foundation destined to help drug addicts. Its founders, Dr.J.Presl and Dr.I.Douda (a long-time member of the Radical Party and leading antiprohibitionist campaigner) run a center which tries to put seriously addicted people on less dangerous drugs. The motto of Drop-in is "repression solves nothing", writes CESKY DENIK sympathetically. The article also includes four questions for First Lady Olga Havlová, whose "Goodwill Commitee" is among the sponsors of the Drop-in foundation. "If you were the same age as these people who need Drop-in, do you believe it could happen to you, too?" asks CD. "I cannot imagine what the girls who now want to appear as "leaders of the class" must do to maintain their position. And I was always such a girl," says Mrs.Havlová. "...In the sixties I have lived through the age of marijuana and LSD. This is hardly a new situation. Throughout history there were always people who took drugs, and among some primitive tribes it

is considered normal. Human beings simply seem to need it. I, for instance, smoke since the age of fifteen...I have not yet made up my mind about legalization."

LIDOVE NOVINY (liberal, independent) bring to attention the suffering of the tiny and little-known Czech minority in Kazakhstan in Central Asia where they were deported by Stalin; today they face racist attacks, forced islamization and a horrible environmental situation. "There were other tiny ethnic groups here - the Jews, Germans etc., but they have already left because the Governments of their mother countries have asked for them," say the Kazakhstan Czechs. "Even the local Russians, who have nowhere to go, wonder why nobody cares for us."

MLADA FRONTA DNES (centrist, without political affiliation) informs on the first page that "The creation of the institution of ombudsman is not very likely". The Government, writes MFD, believes there is no reason to introduce such an institution for the sake of protection of human rights, while both Poland and Hungary have already done so. While both the Government and parliamentarians are quoted as saying that "if the judiciary functions well, the protection of human rights is sufficiently protected", President Havel has repeatedly spoken in favor of the introduction of such a function. According to the President, so far it was the Office of the President which has been functioning (to some extent) as an ombudsman.

MFD also brings news about a prepared amendment to the Citizenship Law, which should "facilitate conditions for receiving the citizenship". The only two categories which are mentioned as deserving such a facilitation, however, are Czechs born in Slovakia who have been deported to the Czech lands in 1939 (under the current law even they cannot receive the citizenship automatically!) and the Czechs from the Ukraine (Chernobyl region) whose "return" to their ancient homeland was organized by the Government.

RUDE PRAVO (left-wing, ex-Communist) brings an interview with Jiri Hajek, 80, who is famous for his speech in the U.N. after the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, when he was Czechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs; later he was once of the three first spokesmen of Charter 77. Two days ago, he recieved the French Legion d'Honneur. Hajek's evolution (Social Democrat - prisoner in Nazi jail - Stalinist - Reform Communist - dissident Chartist) symbolizes the whole evolution of the Czech Left in this century. In the interview Hajek (among other things) expresses regret about two "ugly books" he wrote in the Stalinist Fifties.

TELEGRAF (conservative, close to Prime Minister Klaus) joins independent and left-wing papers in criticising the proposed new law on customs payments, which states that deputies of Parliament should be exempted from customs controls. "The information barrier seems to be so thick that the deputies have not yet heard the angry reaction of the public to the previous exemption" (from some traffic rules, esp. speeding limits). "It is hard to imagine how the custom-free import of new videos for the family etc. will boost the deputies working morale," says Telegraf.